เ
May 7, 1896.]
The following telegram has been received by the Government from Saigon and has been communicated to the Chamber of Commerce:- "Import of cattle, etc., absolutely prohibited." The Sandakan correspondent of the Straits Times writes:-It is said that a new and larger steamer has been ordered in Hongkong for the coasting trade by the prosperous Sabah Steam- ship Co., it being hoped that the China trade of Eastern Borneo and Western Celebes, as far down as Macassar, will be concentrated upon Sandakan for transhipment to Hongkong.
The day before Dr. Ayres reached Hongkong he had his gold watch and chain stolen from under the pillow of his bed and the endeavours which were made to recover it failed. Dr. Ayres reported his loss to the Hongkong Police on landing here, but it is questionable whether the missing property will ever be restored to him as perhaps by this time it has been put in the melting pot.
A robbery by a gang of armed thieves took place at Honam last week. Some eight or ten men armed with revolvers entered the residence of a wealthy gentleman and half the gang kept the inmates (as it happened at the time all women) under control by presenting revolvers at them whilst the other half secured all the money and valuables. They got away, scot free, with about Tls. 5,000 in cash and jewellery.
Twenty cargo boats carrying in all 28,000 piculs of rice left Canton on the 27th April
CHINA OVERLAND TRADË KEPURI.
A special session of licensing Justices was held at the Magistracy on the 5th May to consider an application by William Krater for the transfer of his publican's licence to sell and retail intoxicating liquors on the premises at 290, Queen's Road Central, under the sign of "The Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle" to Wolffe Friedmann. The Justices present were Com mander Hastings and Mr. W. M. B. Arthur. Mr. Grist appeared for the applicant. The Bench refused to grant the application.
On Esturday morning one of the two men sentenced the other day to six months' imprison- ment for obtaining money by menaces com mitted suicide. The ex-whitewasher misbe- haved himself in prison and was consequently ordered three days' solitary confinement, and it was while undergoing this punishment that he put his quene round his neck and strangled him- self by fixing the end of the queue to the bar of a ventilator and allowing himself a drop of one foot. The inquest was held in the afternoon and a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence was returned.
A representative of the Times of Ceylon sought an interview with H.E. Li Hung- chang at Colombo. The Chief Secretary was deputed to give the reporter the information he required. The Viceroy, the reporter was informed, had so far greatly enjoyed his journey, standing the fatigue very well indeed. Ther had not met with any rough weather, but there was a fog at Hongkong which prevented the Ernest Simone entering the harbour on the evening they arrived there. His Excellency was sorry to hear there had been some dis- appointment at Hongkong owing to his not landing there; but he had been advised that if he did so he would run the risk of being quarantined at Singapore, owing to the ex- istence of plague at Hongkong, and he did not like to run any risks.
Going from home for the news! The informa.
in tow of six steam-launches for the famine district in Kwangsi. Some days were lost in preliminary arrangements for the dispatch of this feet. One steamer could take the whole load up easily, but rather than adopt this simple expedient the officials allow the people to starve while thousands of tons of rice are available at Hongkong and Canton.
From Messrs Wieler & Co.
we learn that the steamer Ingraban has stranded on the bar at Tamsui harbour. tion was received through the captain of the Cosmopolit, who passed the vessel, but according to his statement the Ingraban is apparently uninjured and given favourable weather will be floated without much difficulty. The vessel was bound from Hongkong to Newchwang via Tamsui with cargo.
An English Judge's telling a convicted prisoner that he could sentence him to a term of imprisonment far exceeding his natural life has been referred to as a bull, but it is not so very extraordinary after all. The notorious Lee Lum Kwai was sentenced by Judge Smale to penal servitude for two lives and a few odd years. When his friends agitated for some mitigation of the punishment it was suggested that the odd years might be knocked off.
On the morning of the 4th May the police re- ceived information from the Chinese officials at Kowloon City that three privates in the Asiatic Artillery had been detained there for assaulting a boy by kicking him. In the afternoon Mr. Leth- bridge and Inspector Quincey went over to Kowloon and learnt that a compensation of $40 would release the men. The price was con- sidered much too high, and $7 was offered and accepted and the artillerymen were then allowed
to go.
The Jubilee Committee have suggested пооп as the most appropriate hour for the ceremony of unveiling the Queen's statue on the 25th May. This hour does not seem to meet with universal approval. It is urged that the heat in the middle of the day would be very trying, both to those who have to take part in the ceremony and to the spectators, and that half-past five or six o'clock in the evening would be more agreeable and more generally convenient.
|
We take the following paragraph from the Japan Gazette-A report is current that a Hongkong sugar company has received orders to ship some 200,000 piculs of refined sugar to Europe. That ing last year when sugar was shipped from is a reversal of the condition of things prevail-
Europe to Japan. The news will doubtless in the East, and perhaps the concern that lost have a very marked effect on the sugar markets
a quarter of a million last year may pay a dividend this. We take it that the Cuban troubles are responsible for this fresh develop- ment. Cuba exports annually, in normal years, close on 1,000,000 tons of sugar. With that supply partially stopped the price of sugar must go up with a bound. Of course the check may be but temporary, but if the war goes on the destruction must be so great as to cripple Cuba's production for many years to come, in which case Formosa and Manila sugar would be in great demand.
CANTON NOTES.
391
reven ge. When they broke in they killed all the in mates, thirteen altogether. One of the women who was killed was pregnant. Fortun- nately the San-sz was out on that night. He had four sons, two of whom were killed; the other two were at school in Canton. After the robbers had collected all the valuables in the house they went away, without meeting any opposition. The case has been reported to the Canton officers, but no trace of the robbers has been discovered.
{FROM THE “CHUNG NGOI SAN PO The Magistrates of Nam-hoi and Pup-u issued a joint notification the other day to the effect that as plague has again broken out in Canton, and many swine have died of the disease, people should take good care not to eat any unwholesome pork, which is a great danger to life. If any one is discovered selling the flesh of animals which have died of plague he will be severely dealt with.
As the 1st May was the birthday of Viceroy Tan-chung-lun, all the officials and expectants, high and low, civil and military, were to go to his Yamen to offer congratulations with valu- able presents. All the officials, civil and mili- tary, of the other districts of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, who could not come in person, had sent their servants to Canton to join in the celebration. His Excellency had prepared a beautiful dinner in his Yamen to entertain his visitors.
As famine is raging in the districts of Lau- chow and Yum-chow, in Kwangsi, rice is sold at seven taels a picul, and poor parents are willing to sell their children at five cents a calty. These children are mostly bought by the rich natives, for they are not allowed to be exported for fear that they might be sold to people of bad character, who would force them to lead immoral lives.
Owing to the long drought in Hainan all the crops have proved a failure and rice is now exceedingly dear. One dollar can only buy twelve catties.
Shortly before ten o'clock on the night of the 29th April the Fire Brigade turned out to an outbreak of fire at 115, Praya West. The fire originated in the third storey, where fortunately
A San-sz in the district of San-ling, finding it was confined, the flames being extinguished in that robberies were often reported in that dis- about half an hour. The premises were insured trict, tried to put an end to such outrages. with the South British Insurance Company for He accordingly fortified the place, and the police $2,000. The top storey of the premises was
force was increased. The plan proved success- gutted and the second floor was damaged byful and some time ago several robbers who made an attack on a house were all captured, and they were sent to Canton for execution. On the 12th April other rubbers, who were sorry for the loss of their brothers, made an attack on the house of the San-sz to wreak their
fire and water. At the Police Court on the 1st May Commander W. C. H. Hastings held an inquiry respecting the fire. There were no suspicious circumstances and the premises were released.
The remains of Admiral Cheng Shao-chung, who died at Tiger Pass some time ago, will be conveyed to Canton on the 11th instant.
Over thirty houses were blown down by a strong gale in Ta-kiang-hu, in Shik-tsui on the 18th April. More than one hundred persons were injured, but no lives were lost. The natives said that the falling of the houses was caused by a dragon that passed there at that time.
MISCELLANEOUS.
A Tokyo press despatch of the 16th April says-It has been definitely settled that the Osaka Shosen Kaisha shall receive a subsidy of 60,000 yen per year for maintaining a steam- ship service to Formosa. Three steamers will leave Japan each month for Formosa, via Kagoshima and Okinawa.
Messrs. Noel, Murray & Co., in their piece goods trade report dated Shanghai, 30th April, say-The tremendous demand for bricks here at present, owing to the large number of build. cipated by some of the mill promoters, and is ings being erected, was evidently never anti- likely to delay the work very considerably.
A Seoul telegram of the 14th April to the Japan papers says:-Taking the opportunity of the contract for the Seoul-Chemulpo line combination of Russian and French speculators being granted to an American firm, a joint have applied for a concession enabling them to construct a railway between Seoul and Gensan.
The China Gazette says:-There is a rumour that China intends making a railway loan almost immediately, and the fact that Mr. Thos. Jackson, Manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, is coming up from Hong. kong is pointed to by the knowing ones as a confirmation of the report. The only security that China could offer for such a loan is the prospective railway itself.
A Seoul despatch of the 23rd April to the Japan papers says:-Fifty Russian marines, with two naval officers and five naval doctors, arrived here to-day from Chemulpo. One report says they are simply reliefs for the marines now in the capital, while according to another the additional force is for the purpose of guarding the Palace, as the King is about to return there from the Russian Legation. The new Premier and Financial Minister are believed to be in favour of the return of the King to his Palace.
On her last downward trip' the Hiroshima- maru passed very near to a water spout off the coast of Sumatra. Fortunately, Captain Andersen had slightly altered his course some time before, or in all probability he would have had a most dangerous rather than what happily proved to be an interesting experience. No ship, he says, could possibly live in the midst of such a disturbance of the sea. A great column of water reached, as it seemed, up to the sky and constituted a grand sight, "a whirlwind drawing up the water just as if a suction-pipe was at work. It was the first time Captain Andersen had witnessed anything of the kind, though we believe water-spouts are of not infrequent occurrence in the neighbourhood of the Sumatra coast.- Kobe Chronicle.
2